When Filipe Correia looks at American mobility providers, he sees areas where they can improve — and areas where Europeans should follow.
“The principles and the fundamental goals are going to be the same,” says Correia, Latin America and Europe Business Development Manager of Stealth Products. Beyond those principles and goals, relevant differences can help U.S. mobility providers map their plans for 2026.
Here is a look at three key differences in the mobility industries between Europe and the U.S.
1. Clinicians thinking about challenges state to state can consider the challenges of differences across European nations
Correia lives in Portugal, a nation with a population around 10.4 million, about the size of Michigan. It’s an interesting comparison, highlighting the ways in which states work together, or don’t, and the ways European nations do.
“Every country has their own reimbursement system — even the products and the needs are a little bit different from Portugal to Spain to Italy to France to Germany and so on,” he says. “That’s different from the U.S., because states are under the same umbrella. The law, reimbursement, Medicaid, Medicare, they’re going to be the same. There are differences from state to state, yes, but the law is going to be the same. It’s not the same in Europe.”
Reimbursement systems, and the way people in the rehab world do business, are “completely different,” he notes. Some European countries are similar to the U.S. in that they have a list of products financed by the government, while other countries, including Portugal, don’t.
“Portugal is a very interesting case because the products need to be registered in the agencies from the government, but you do not have a catalog or a list of products that the government will pay for,” he says. “In France, or in Spain, you have a very strict list of products that the government is paying, and how much they’re paying. I would not say that it’s worse or better — it’s just a different way of doing things that leaves a lot of room for the dealers to make that choice for the client. That could be a problem, but, you know, it’s Europe. We have 30 or 40 countries doing different things, or the same thing in a different way.”
2. The U.S. use of ATPs would benefit Europe
Differences in reimbursement systems across Europe might not necessarily make Europe more manageable than the U.S. One area where Correia is sure the U.S. has an advantage is in our use of the assistive technology professional certification, or ATP.
“The way that you have the system organized in the U.S. — I’m jealous of some of it,” he says. “For instance, the ATP. We don’t have it in Europe.” That lack of certification creates gaps in service and communication between clinician teams and product sales teams, as they are chiefly concerned with selling the product with not as much regard for the end user.
“So having that figure of an ATP that kind of builds a bridge between a true clinician team and the product itself is an advantage,” Correia says. “In Europe, in some countries, it’s a struggle because you can have a simple salesperson trying to do a power chair assessment. That could be a problem as you can see. The goals are going to be the same, but the way that we’re going to get there is where the difference is.”
The ATPs deliver, he notes, a “big advantage” in the U.S., building a bridge between product manufacturers, product dealers and the clinicians.
“In that sense, I would say that the fundamental goals are easier to get to or to apply in the U.S. than are in certain countries in Europe,” he says.
3. The European approach to postural support would benefit the U.S.
There are other ways, though, in which mobility goals are easier to reach in Europe, if only because of the differences in products. Take tilt chairs, for example. Someone who needs a tilt chair will be able to achieve postural variations, but too much focus on the abilities of the chair can strip focus from the needs of the user.
“We tend to look at tilt as a long-term thing, but tilt should be something that I use for short periods of time,” Correia says. “I should not have someone tilt at 45 degrees for two or three hours.”
This is where the flexibility of different countries in a concentrated area gives clinicians and manufacturers access to new ideas. In Scandinavia, tilt is not called “tilt,” he says. It’s called a “multi-position chair.”
“The idea is, I use tilt for allowing the client to rest into a certain position, and then come back to a neutral position or a vertical position,” he says. “That’s tilt.”
This Views article is sponsored by Stealth Products, and is based on this Mobility Management podcast. To learn more about Stealth Products, visit stealthproducts.com.